95 police officers, 46 medical staff died in fight against coronavirus in China: Media

Ninety-five Chinese police officials and 46 medical workers died in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese official media reported on Saturday, revealing for the first time the casualties of the frontline officials fighting the battle against the global health crisis.

The revelation of the casualties came as China on Saturday held a national memorial for the martyrs and victims of the coronavirus outbreak.

China has reported 81,639 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,326 deaths, majority of them from epicentre Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, where the deadly virus originated late last year.

As of Thursday, a total of 60 frontline police officers and 35 auxiliary police officers had sacrificed their lives at the frontline of the battle, official media here quoted the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

As of March 15, at least 46 medical workers have sacrificed their lives during the battle by risking infection, over-work or accidents state-run Global Times reported.

Earlier, Chinese officials said over 3,000 medical workers have contracted the virus. China has deployed 42,000 medical workers in Hubei and built 14 makeshift hospitals to accommodate surging cases.

Hubei province has so far reported 67,803 confirmed cases, including 50,008 in Wuhan.